CECILIA BRAINARD BLOG: A compilation of articles by Philippine American writer Cecilia Manguerra Brainard. Stop and rest for a while in my blogsite.

Thursday, April 23, 2015

Flash Fiction - The Dirty Kitchen by Cecilia Manguerra Brainard

The writer Susan S. Lara recently conducted a writing workshop for participants of the Young Writers Workshop in Manila. She used one of my flash fiction or short short, "The Dirty Kitchen", along with other writers' works. Susan informed me her young work-shoppers "loved "The Dirty Kitchen" and empathized totally with your young protagonist."

To those who don't know, flash fiction or short short is a story that's under a thousand words. There is another category called micro fiction, which refers to stories that have less than 300 words.

"The Dirty Kitchen" has around 253 words.This story is part of my third short story collection, Vigan and Other Stories (Anvil 2011); it was first published in the anthology Fast Food Fiction (Anvil 2003).

THE DIRTY
KITCHEN

Cecilia
Manguerra Brainard

My
favorite room was the outdoor kitchen, which we called the
"dirty-kitchen.” It was a separate
structure in the back of the house, a place with a huge cooking hearth, a place
where the servants sat around, talked, and ate.

The
main house was huge, Spanish-style, with marble floors, crystal chandeliers,
very formal. My mother ruled the main house, and she shouted a lot. The
dirty-kitchen felt like another world.
The floor was simple cement; the roofing was made of corrugated sheets
that threatened to blow off during the typhoon season. It always smelled of fried garlic.

I
enjoyed my visits there. Sometimes the
driver would play the guitar, sad songs full of longing for home or a
loved-one. The servants liked to discuss
the "Big Dance," an outdoor affair open to the public, which was held
across the river. Friday nights I’d hear
the loud music coming from the "Big Dance." They also talked about the Amateur Hour, a
talent show open to the public, which was held at the Fuente Osmena.
Every
night, they switched on the transistor radio to listen to the evening soap
operas. Sitting on the wooden bench,
legs swinging, I got lost in the dramatic stories that involved infidelity,
out-of-wedlock children, lost loves, every twist and turn in the human drama
that one could imagine.

I
listened until it was time to return to the main house for supper. Before opening the door to the main house, I
often took a deep breath to brace myself.

Cecilia Manguerra Brainard is the award-winning author of 10 books, including When the Rainbow Goddess Wept, The Newspaper Widow, Magdalena, Vigan and Other Stories, and Out of Cebu: Essays and Personal Prose. She edited four books, co-edited six books, and co-authored a novel, Angelica's Daughters.
Her work has been translated into Finnish and Turkish; and many of her stories and articles have been widely anthologized.
Cecilia has received many awards, including a California Arts Council Fellowship in Fiction, a Brody Arts Fund Award, a Special Recognition Award for her work dealing with Asian American youths, as well as a Certificate of Recognition from the California State Senate, 21st District, and the Outstanding Individual Award from her birth city, Cebu, Philippines. She has received several travel grants from the USIS.
She has lectured and performed at UCLA, USC, University of Connecticut, University of the Philippines, PEN, Shakespeare & Company in Paris, and many others. She teaches creative writing at the Writers Program at UCLA-Extension.

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Cecilia Manguerra Brainard is the award-winning author of 10 books, including When the Rainbow Goddess Wept, The Newspaper Widow, Magdalena, Vigan and Other Stories, and Out of Cebu: Essays and Personal Prose. She edited four books, co-edited six books, and co-authored a novel, Angelica's Daughters.
Her work has been translated into Finnish and Turkish; and many of her stories and articles have been widely anthologized.
Cecilia has received many awards, including a California Arts Council Fellowship in Fiction, a Brody Arts Fund Award, a Special Recognition Award for her work dealing with Asian American youths, as well as a Certificate of Recognition from the California State Senate, 21st District, and the Outstanding Individual Award from her birth city, Cebu, Philippines. She has received several travel grants from the USIS.
She has lectured and performed at UCLA, USC, University of Connecticut, University of the Philippines, PEN, Shakespeare & Company in Paris, and many others. She teaches creative writing at the Writers Program at UCLA-Extension.